Voltaire Network[Photograph of official notification from Kurdistan Region Government, Ministry of Interior, Erbil Governorate, Erbil Central District; form is dated January 22, 2018 PDF. The rest of the form is in Arabic.]

The regional government of Iraqi Kurdistan has established an Islamic tax on businesses owned by Christians.

This tax appeared at the end of June in Ankawa, a district of Erbil, a city where 80% of the inhabitants are Christian. This tax is a mutated form of the former “Djizîa”, the tax collected from Christians who did not want to join the army. Whilst the initiative of the municipal authorities had at first been denounced, the City of Semel has followed suite and also introduced this tax.

At the same time, the YPG Kurds (supported by the United States, Israel and France) have invaded and are occupying two Christian localities of Syria, Tel Jazira and Tel Baz, that lie on the banks of the river Khabour). During the last three years, the YPG has forced the replacement of teachers of Christian schools in Northern Syria. The children had been forced to abandon the Arab language and to follow a programme of study imposed by Kurdish teachers in the Kurdish language. [1].